About Me

Subscribe To THFF

Welcome to THFF.com! Kick your wading boots off and stick around for a while. You'll find content ranging from NC fishing reports, videos, pictures, fly fishing news from around the state/country/world, humor, and even some irrelevant, yet interesting posts.

I won't go into too much detail on Hurricane Irene here on the blog. I will say that if you are living on the NC coast, particularly along the OBX, buckle up. A bumpy ride could be on the way. I included the word "could" because the track of Irene has been consistently trending eastward. Still, put that tidbit in the back of your mind and prepare for a landfalling hurricane, but pray the wrath of Irene will stay offshore. Our state has seen its fair share of hurricanes. Still, the less we get, the better (obviously).

Much more info on Hurricane Irene over at the all new Carolina Weather Blog. I'm updating over there frequently as Irene moves.

All we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Unless Irene tracks a considerable distance to the west, folks well inland won't know a major hurricane is passing along the coast. So, fishing here in WNC will likely continue to be great. We could use some of the plentiful moisture Irene is producing. Streams are not dangerously low, but they're in need of some replenishing rainfall in order to keep us from reaching those dangerously low flows. Levels are, for the most part, what you'd generally expect in late August. Fine tippets and long leaders are a necessity. Wild trout that are rarely pressured are usually not leader shy and will eat your fly on 4x tippet. On wild waters that are sandwiched between two walls of rhododendron and vegetation, a heavier tippet is useful. If you're back cast snags a tree, heavier tippet will up the chances of getting that fly back.

Until October 1st, wild waters, C&R waters, and the smallmouth rivers will be your best bet. TN tailwaters are also very popular destinations this time of the year if you don't mind the drive.

So, what's on the menu? Well, not much has changed since June. Your usual summertime patterns will suffice. I would go with nymphs in the morning, then terrestrials in the afternoon, before switching to dries in the evening. The 6-8:30pm time frame every evening should yield plenty of hatching yellow sallies, light cahills, yellow/light green stones, and maybe even a few "surprise" bugs. On most rivers, you should catch fish all evening on a #14 Yellow Stimulator. Don't be surprised if you see a giant American Salmonfly clumsily fluttering around at dusk.

Continue sending in those Carolina fish pics for the THFF.com Fish Wall!